About 145 Manitoba Hydro customers in the Pilot Mound/Snowflake area will be in the dark tomorrow. A planned power outage is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. .

Work to replace aging equipment in that area will force crews to de-energize the lines, causing a power outage, explained Hydro spokesman Bruce Owen.

"Our crews can't work on live or energized equipment and have to de-energize it in order to safely work and work more quickly."

He added that equipment in the area is being replaced to keep up with demand and ensure more reliable service into the future.

"A lot of the equipment was installed a number of years ago, some as old as rural electrification in the late forties and early fifties, and it's closely reaching its end of life and needs to be replaced."

Click here for more information on how to prepare for a power outage.